Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Preliminary Report Finds Oregon Mismanaged $78M In Medicaid Funds

The report from the state Health Authority director says the figure comes from overpayments to some contractors and money it still owes other companies. In addition, he said budget and accounting problems kept the state from collecting $34 million that the Medicaid program is owed. Other Medicaid news comes from Kansas, Florida and Georgia.

The Oregonian:
Oregon Health Agency's Money Troubles Double In New Report
Money problems at the Oregon agency that oversees Medicaid could be more than twice as large as already disclosed, a new report reveals.
Due to errors involving abortion, prison, undocumented immigrants and other factors, the state might have overpaid its contractors or owe other entities as much as $78 million, Oregon Health Authority director Patrick Allen disclosed in a letter to Gov. Kate Brown made public Friday. That's on top of $74 million in overpayments The Oregonian/OregonLive reported last month. (Borrud, 11/20)

KCUR:
KanCare Concerns A Challenge For Officials Seeking To Renew Privatized Medicaid Plan
Kansas officials seeking to renew KanCare are asking people covered by the privatized Medicaid program to trust them to make it better. In a series of recent public hearings, state officials have assured providers and beneficiaries that KanCare 2.0 will fix the administrative and service-delivery problems that have plagued the current program since its inception. (McLean, 11/20)

Tampa Bay Times:
Gwen Graham Takes Firm Stance On Medicaid Expansion
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham drew a line in the sand on Medicaid expansion Monday. The Democratic candidate for governor said she would veto Republican legislative priorities if lawmakers refused to work with her to expand the health care program, which provides health insurance to low-income Americans, in Florida through the Affordable Care Act. (Wilson, 11/20)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Medicaid Patients’ Deaths Didn’t Prompt State Action
Georgia’s Department of Community Health apparently handed down no sanctions against a state contractor after a 58-year-old paraplegic died from falling off a wheelchair lift in May. Before that, there’s no record of sanctions after a 34-year-old double amputee died following a wheelchair spill in 2015. And so the pattern of avoidable injuries continues within the system charged with giving Medicaid patients free rides to medical appointments, which has subcontracting mom-and-pop transport companies often scrambling to stay afloat financially. (Edwards, 11/20)

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